swooping around life's little fancies

blackbirdspaces

Springtime inspired me to purge my closet (I’ll be sharing more about that in a future post) to make more room. And guess what? I could fling open the closet door and experience a breeze of fresh air wafting out, and all without a mountain of fabric avalanching on my face. Okay, that’s a little exaggerated, but you get the gist!

And with that extra room, I wanted to do a bit of smart shopping to start off 2015, which is pretty much the following formula: shopping affordably + appropriately to the season. 599fashion wanted to help me reach my goal, and so I’m here to share with you a few items they sent over! I love how they offer so many options for clothing, accessories, lifestyle, etc… AND did you know they boast an extended line to include items for men+women+children – any creative last minute ideas for Mother’s or Father’s day, anyone? ;).

Let me show you my little haul with 599fashion.com! I’ll leave you a rundown of the details (shipping, thoughts on quality, etc) after the images. Let me know your thoughts!

item one: TASSEL EARRINGS

super cute, not too large for my ears, brand new and the little chains added a fun flair to my outfit!

whimsical, and the universal necklace. any look, and BAM. you’re done.

item five: GEOMETRIC PLATED NECKLACE

the quirky, outgoing one. free to pair with anything to add a little funk.

oh, yeah.

item six: THE SUNNIES

standard shades. cool texture.

item seven: FLUFFY SLIPPERS

need i say more?

oh, my darling!

item eight: EMBROIDERED FLORALS

my favorite shirt atm. so spring but so versatile.

that detail, though…

item nine: MICKEY GOES ABROAD

a fun, mickey-inspired shirt with the CUTEST bow formed into the shirt.

see below.

amazing.

And yeah! I hope you enjoyed that sneak peek. I’ll link a video to show me trying on all of the items in the set HERE. or here.

THOUGHTS:

SHIPPING: fast! arrived just a few days after placing the order

SERVICE: easy, and very responsive. i even received an e-mail update regarding where the package was!

SET: the amount of items offered on 599fashion.com is immense! i love that there are so many styles that are catered to, and the price point (everything $5.99 or less

AVAILABILITY (sorry, no more alliteration): things go pretty quickly due to the low price points, so the exact items that even I’m showing you may not be on the website anymore. however, there are so many products loaded, which means similar things are sure to be discovered. how you go about that is up to you! it’s the ultimate scavenger hunt 🙂

Aaaaand that’s it! I hope you enjoyed the images and found this post helpful – let me know if you have any questions and I’ll get back to you! 🙂

So… I don’t know if you recall a few … months!… back, I published this post, discreetly featuring the tank top you see below.

I know, I know.

I may be no mind reader, but you are likely thinking, “What is this girl doing, making me look at a plain ol’ tank?”

And… you’re right.

Except.

This was a lesson that you can (almost) always work with what you have!

Observe.

See the straggly threads below?

I even took another shot to show you the other side.

Why this is significant is that the entire strap (from over the shoulder to go all around the arm) and the hem on top were covered with gorgeous cylindrical beads. They sparkled and danced in the light, and I loved looking at them.

And the tank was on sale. Or was it? Actually, I don’t really know.

All I know is, when I saw this a few years ago, I walked out of the store with it.

Only one problem stood in my way: the beautiful beads were causing me pain!

For all the loveliness they possessed – that opaque pearlesque pink – the beads clawed and scratched and angered my arms. To the point that my skin started blushing like a first grader who got seated next to the person they had a crush on. And then started complaining.

Mind you, this was only three minutes after I put on the top.

Too bad I tried the tank top for only two minutes in the fitting room and refused to notice never noticed what an issue this purchase was going to present!

And several times, I was tempted to just toss the whole thing and give up.

But then!

It struck my fancy to try using the beads so that I could utilize the tank top to its maximum potential (i.e. actually wearing the thing).

So, I painstakingly removed all of the threads linking the beads to the top (hence, the reason you had to subject your eyes to an ordinary tank top with… gasp… stray strands!).

And ended up with hundreds of lovely beads!

Here is what I did with them (wow. longest. intro. ever. you are welcome ; ) )

I took a blank canvas and started painting a cute little bird.

And because it does not look like a blackbird, I named it “Blackbird” – so that’s what it is.

Blackbird.

Hello, blackbird.

After using acrylic paint to fill everything in, I decided to create a scalloped border in gold to complement said blackbird.

I couldn’t resist.

To add the final glittering touch, I spread mod podge in a fairly thick layer and scattered the beads all around.

Too much fun!

I seriously am a kid at heart.

And ta-da!

With a flourish, I present to you: the end!

I hope you enjoyed this, and that it inspires you to really maximize whatever items you have on hand.

It’s not necessary to purchase everything new – revamp what you have and create something beautiful!

I enjoy making new things and hands-on projects because they point to the ultimate Creator Who chose to bring forth everything from nothing! Which is why you and I exist!